Forlì, September 14, 2026 – “Soon I will have to undergo a surgical operation for a oncological pathology, recently discovered, fortunately in time to consider it all manageable.”
This is the announcement of Deputy Mayor Vincenzo Bongiorno, with a post on his Facebook profile: “At 47 years old – he adds – it is the third time this has happened to me, after tumors when I was 2 and 15.”
Bongiorno, a member of Brothers of Italy and the second in the Zattini administration, holds the portfolios for culture, the historic center, neighborhoods, and family. Two summers ago, it was Mayor Gian Luca Zattini who announced the need for surgery to remove a neoplasm: a situation that allowed him to return to work, and in good health, after a few weeks. Bongiorno describes the illness as “manageable” and, in another passage, “temporary.”
Bongiorno explained the reasons for his message: “I decided to share and make my story public because I believe that the fragility of each of us, like that of a temporary illness, should not be censured, but rather can be an opportunity for personal and community growth. My affectionate thoughts go to those who are more seriously ill, perhaps for a long time. Courage, a big hug.”
He says he is facing this moment with «serenity and determination»: “I will face this too, thanks to the support of my family and many dear people.”
The announcement came at the end of a post in which he recounted the placement (which took place Sunday afternoon) of a commemorative plaque of Blessed Benedetta Bianchi Porro in Piazza Morgagni, in front of the Basilica of San Pellegrino: a significant place since the Forlì native San Pellegrino is the patron saint of cancer patients and Giovanni Battista Morgagni, to whom the square is dedicated, was a well-known 18th-century doctor and scientist. Benedetta Bianchi Porro, as Bongiorno recalls, gave “a luminous testimony in facing a terrible illness with love for life, faith, and hope” (her beatification by the Catholic Church took place exactly 7 years ago).
“I am honored – writes the deputy mayor – to have represented the city at such a significant moment, which confirms Forlì as a crossroads in the dialogue between science and faith. It was also a great gift from a personal point of view,” he said before explaining his health condition. Present were the episcopal vicar Don Enrico Casadei, Emanuela, Benedetta’s sister, and the Servants of Mary, the religious order entrusted with the basilica.
